Washington, D.C., 5 December 2002: The U.S. should resist unilateral actions that would damage regional efforts to protect the beluga sturgeon and instead should maintain its support for international management measures, a leading conservationist cautioned today.

Jaques Berney, Executive Vice-President of IWMC World Conservation Trust, a member of IUCN Sturgeons Specialists Group and a former Deputy-Secretary General of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) said that today’s public hearing on a proposal by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the beluga sturgeon as endangered, should result in a reaffirmation of the constructive approach the U.S. has followed so far, particularly within CITES.

The Clinton Administration rejected any move to list the beluga as endangered. Instead, it proposed the inclusion of all sturgeon in Appendix II of CITES at the COP10 meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1997, and won the support of range States. Since then, Caspian States have made considerable progress in improving sturgeon management practices, including completion of verified stock assessments and the establishment of coordinated export and catch quotas.

Contrary to the assertions of Caviar Emptor, the lobby group set up to close down the caviar industry, the biological status of the beluga sturgeon is not critical and the fish is by no means "endangered".

Mr. Berney said: "The United States was centrally involved in establishing the framework of international measures for the caviar trade. That is currently working precisely as intended. It would be an extraordinary act of bad faith for the Fish and Wildlife Service to now pull the rug from under everybody’s feet and simply ban all imports of beluga into the U.S."

A U.S. ban would also have a negative impact on poor fishing communities in the Caspian Basin, particularly if it also led to wider international prohibitions.

Mr. Berney added: "It would be seen as extremely arrogant for the U.S. to suddenly choose to deprive poor Caspian fishermen of the means of putting food into their mouths and those of their children. Local communities are bound to feel betrayed if the U.S. reneges on previous agreements and introduces destructive new laws that are entirely counter-productive."

For more information and interviews, contact Eugene Lapointe
Email: iwmc@iwmc.org